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Aranya Parva, also known as the “Book of the Forest”, is the third of eighteen parvas of the Indian epic Mahabharata. Aranya Parva has 21 sub-books and 324 chapters. It is one of the longest books in the Epic.
Contents
- Structure and chapters
- English translations
- Inspiration for later works
- Quotations and teachings
- References
It discusses the twelve-year sojourn of the Pandavas in the forest, the lessons they learn there and how it builds their character.
It is one of the longest of the 18 books in the Mahabharata, and contains numerous discussions on virtues and ethics, along with myths of Arjuna, Yudhishthara, Bhima tales of “Nahusha the snake and Yudhishthira” as well as “Ushinara and the hawk”, love stories of “Nala and Damayanti”, as well as “Savitri and Satyavan”.
Structure and chapters
This book has 21 sub-parvas (sub-books or little books) and 324 sections (chapters). The following are the sub-parvas:
1. Aranyaka Parva (sections: 1-10) 2. Kirmirabadha Parva (section 11) 3. Arjunabhigamana Parva (sections: 12-37) 4. Kirata Parva (sections: 38-41) 5. Indralokagamana Parva (sections: 42-51) 6. Nalopakhyana Parva (sections: 52-79) 7. Tirtha-yatra Parva (sections: 80-157) 8. Yaksha-yudha Parva (sections: 158-164) 9. Nivata-kavacha-yudha Parva (sections: 165-175) 10. Ajagara Parva (sections: 176-181) 11. Markandeya-Samasya Parva (sections: 182-231) 12. Draupadi-Satyabhama Samvada Parva (sections: 232-234) 13. Ghosha-yatra Parva (sections: 235-256) 14. Mriga Sapnovbhava Parva (section 257) 15. Vrihi Drounika Parva (sections: 258-260) 16. Draupadi-harana Parva (sections: 261-270) 17. Jayadhratha Vimokshana Parva (section 271) 18. Rama Upakhyana Parva (sections: 272-291) 19. Pativrata-mahatmya Parva (sections: 292-299) 20. Kundalaharana Parva (sections 299-309) 21. Aranya Parva (sections: 310-324)English translations
Several translations of the Sanskrit book Aranya Parva in English are available. Two translations from 19th century, now in public domain, are those by Kisari Mohan Ganguli and Manmatha Nath Dutt. The translations vary with each translator's interpretations. For example:
Original Sanskrit:
Kisari Mohan Ganguli's translation:
Forgiveness is virtue; forgiveness is sacrifice, forgiveness is the Vedas, forgiveness is the Shruti. He that knoweth this is capable of forgiving everything. Forgiveness is Brahma; forgiveness is truth; forgiveness is stored ascetic merit; forgiveness protecteth the ascetic merit of the future; forgiveness is asceticism; forgiveness is holiness; and by forgiveness is it that the universe is held together.
Manmatha Nath Dutt's translation:
J. A. B. van Buitenen completed an annotated edition of Aranya Parva, based on critically edited and least corrupted version of Mahabharata known in 1975. Debroy, in 2011, notes that updated critical edition of Aranya Parva, with spurious and corrupted text removed, has 16 sub-books, 299 adhyayas (chapters) and 10,239 shlokas (verses). Debroy has published a translated version of a critical edition of Aranya Parva in Volume 2 and 3 of his series.
Clay Sanskrit Library has published a 15 volume set of the Mahabharata which includes a translation of Aranya Parva by William Johnson. This translation is modern and uses an old manuscript of the Epic. The translation does not remove verses and chapters now widely believed to be spurious and smuggled into the Epic in 1st or 2nd millennium AD.
Inspiration for later works
The Kirata sub-parva of Aranya Parva has inspired several major poems and expanded works, such as the Kirātārjunīya by Bhāravi - considered by Monier Monier-Williams as an example of the poetic inventiveness in ancient India enabled by Sanskrit grammar, its flexibility in compounding of words and the use of mathematical meter, all accomplished with spiritual meaning.
Quotations and teachings
Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 1:
Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 2:
Aranyaka Parva, Chapter 2:
Pleasant looks, cheerful heart and sweet words are due to a guest. Rising up, the host should advance towards the guest; he should offer him a seat, and duly worship him. This is the eternal Dharma.
Arjunabhigamana Parva, Chapters 28-29:
Arjunabhigamana Parva, Chapter 30:
By actions men are placed in different situations of life; consequences of action are inevitable, from ignorance people desire for the liberation from action.
Ajagara Parva, Chapter 180:
Markandeya-Samasya Parva, Chapter 200:
Vrihi Drounika Parva, Chapter 268:
Men experience happiness and misery by turn. No man ever enjoys unmixed happiness. A wise man, possessing high wisdom, knowing that life has its ups and downs, is neither filled with joy nor with grief. When happiness comes, one should enjoy it, and when misery comes one should bear it.
Araneya Parva, Chapter 312: